MSN direct on Garmin

Other than liking the interface, I haven't read many things that would persuade me to get it..

I live in west suburban Chicago. I drive towards the south side of Chicago to work. I NEVER get coverage until I am 5 miles from the city limits.

Now, my cable is well concealed, but I get NO signal then "4 green bars."

It's pretty weak coverage.

Anyone try splicing into the FM antenna to get a better signal?

I have similar issues with the TMC traffic cable. I think I get better coverage, but it's not as good as I would like. I have searched for any references to someone hacking the cable or receiver to get a better antenna signal. So far, nothing.

In my opinion its too new of a technology, its going to take a year or so for msn direct to be useful. There is an enormous thread at another site that also talks about how certain cars can interfere with the msn direct receiver getting information. I don't know the specifics but there is a lot of information out there.

i had problem with the unit that came with my 580. didn't work well a bit out of my area. the thing broke and garmin send me a new one and it seem to be working much better . hadn't out of coverage area since i got the new charger.